Abstract: Firstly, the steady laminar flow field of a hypersonic sharp cone boundary layer with zero angle of attack was computed. Then, two groups of finite amplitude T-S wave disturbances were introduced at the entrance of the computational field, and the spatial mode transition process was studied by direct numerical simulation (DNS) method. The mechanism of the transition process was analyzed. It was found that the change of the stability characteristics of the mean flow profile was the key issue. Furthermore, the characteristics of evolution for the disturbances of different modes in the hypersonic sharp cone boundary layer were discussed.

Key words: sharp cone boundary layer, stability, transition, zero angle of attack